(2012) read: 48 / goal: n.a. / JRI: 1

[kareila]

#	JRI	Author	Title	✭	Series
1		Brian Selznick	The Invention of Hugo Cabret	3
2		Maureen Johnson	The Name of the Star	3	Shades of London #1
3		John Green	The Fault In Our Stars	5
4		Rebecca Stead	When You Reach Me	3
5		Cassandra Clare	Clockwork Prince	4	Infernal Devices #2
6		Erin Morgenstern	The Night Circus	5
7		Ernest Cline	Ready Player One	4
8		Jennifer E. Smith	The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight	3
9		Brandon Sanderson	The Alloy of Law	3	Wax and Wayne #1
10		Holly Black	Black Heart	3	Curse Workers #3
11		Ursula Vernon	Dragonbreath	3	Dragonbreath #1
12		Ursula Vernon	Attack of the Ninja Frogs	3	Dragonbreath #2
13		Ursula Vernon	Curse of the Were-wiener	3	Dragonbreath #3
14		Ursula Vernon	Lair of the Bat Monster	3	Dragonbreath #4
15		Ursula Vernon	No Such Thing as Ghosts	3	Dragonbreath #5
16		Ursula Vernon	Revenge of the Horned Bunnies	3	Dragonbreath #6
17		Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant (ed.)	Steampunk!	4
18		Maryrose Wood	The Mysterious Howling	5	The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #1
19		Maryrose Wood	The Hidden Gallery	5	The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #2
20		Maryrose Wood	The Unseen Guest	5	The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #3
21		Joseph Delaney	Grimalkin the Witch Assassin	4	Last Apprentice #9
22		Tom Angleberger	The Strange Case of Origami Yoda	2	Origami Yoda #1
23		Augusten Burroughs	This Is How	4
24		Tony DiTerlizzi	A Hero for WondLa	4	WondLa #2
25		Cornelia Funke	Ghost Knight	4
26		Kristin Cashore	Fire	4
27		Adam Rex	The True Meaning of Smekday	5
28		Cheryl Strayed	Tiny Beautiful Things	5
29		Michael Scott	The Alchemyst	3	Secrets of Nicholas Flamel #1
30		Gillen & Braithwaite	Journey Into Mystery: Fear Itself	3
31		Michael Scott	The Magician	3	Secrets of Nicholas Flamel #2
32		Michael Scott	The Sorceress	3	Secrets of Nicholas Flamel #3
33		Michael Scott	The Necromancer	3	Secrets of Nicholas Flamel #4
34		Philippa Gregory	Changeling	4	Order of Darkness #1
35		Michael Scott	The Warlock	2	Secrets of Nicholas Flamel #5
36		Rick Riordan	The Demigod Diaries	3	Heroes of Olympus
37		Cheryl Strayed	Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail	3
38	X	Walter Isaacson	Steve Jobs	3
39		Michael Scott	The Enchantress	2	Secrets of Nicholas Flamel #6
40		Rick Riordan	The Mark of Athena	4	Heroes of Olympus #3
41		Ransom Riggs	Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children	4	Miss Peregrine #1
42		Chad Gibbs	Love Thy Rival	3
43		Jim Butcher	Cold Days	4	Dresden Files #14
44		David Byrne	How Music Works	3
45		Michael Sims	The Story of Charlotte's Web	3
46		Tom Angleberger	Darth Paper Strikes Back	2	Origami Yoda #2
47		Tom Angleberger	The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee	2	Origami Yoda #3
48		Ursula Vernon	When Fairies Go Bad	3	Dragonbreath #7

Introduction - Read This First!

[kareila]

( A little background... )

One word of warning! Some of my reviews contain spoilers. I used cut tags, but if you're clicking the links in the summary table, the cuts will be ignored!

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An explanation of table columns in the summaries: ( Read more... )

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I think that's everything! I'm keeping this mostly for my own review, but comments are welcome!

#1: John Green & David Levithan - Will Grayson, Will Grayson [JRI: 2010]

[kareila]

This book, taken alongside An Abundance of Katherines, would seem to indicate that John Green has a mild obsession with different people who share the same name. I thought maybe the two Will Graysons would be confused with each other on Facebook, but the way they eventually become aware of each other is much more radically unlikely and amusing.

My main issue with every John Green book except The Fault in Our Stars (and why TFiOS represents such a quantum leap in his writing) is the unshakeable knowledge that he is his protagonist, no matter how much he tries to pretend otherwise. He was stuck on TFiOS for ten years until he realized he had to take himself (his experience as a chaplain for terminally ill children) out of the story.

On the other hand, John Green by any name is always a smart, funny, likable guy, and so are his friends.

He calls this his "big, gay book," and it is exactly that. But there's no bullying - some shit-talking, sure, but with no real heat or threat in it. It's like a utopian vision of what coming of age as a homosexual would be like if everyone in your community was pretty much okay with it: his personal version of "It Gets Better."

I read it with a grin on my face and a tear in my eye.